Mr. Speaker, the resolution passed by the House was clear. It is incumbent on the government to provide Canadians with increased accountability and transparency about our mission in Afghanistan. This is not a partisan mission; this is a Canadian mission.

Mr. Speaker, yes, our mission in Afghanistan is a Canadian mission, thanks to the support of the opposition, and I am very happy about that. This mission is taking place under the leadership of the Prime Minister. We are currently in Bucharest to make sure this mission can continue until 2011, according to the conditions set out in the resolution of the House.

Mr. Speaker, a few years ago, the Government of Quebec declared, and I quote, “Quebec cannot let others control programming for electronic media within its borders...To that end, Quebec must have full jurisdiction and be able to deal with a single regulatory body.”

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the minister that this statement was made by the Minister of Transport when he was the Liberal Minister of Communications in Quebec. If this was true when the Minister of Transportation was a member of the National Assembly, it is even more so with the development of new technologies and it is even more important to act now.

Does this not prove that the government refuses to move from words to deeds in the case of the nation of Quebec?

Mr. Speaker, given that we are going back in time to the early 1990s, allow me to remind the member that the Bloc said it would only be here for one term. We are still waiting for it to decide to leave.

Mr. Speaker, in light of new, very concerning statements, such as the ones made by Wayne Dickson, the captain who rescued the two survivors, there needs to be a real public inquiry. According to him, he corroborates the statements of other witnesses, including Mr. Bourque, the son of the captain of L'Acadien II who died in the accident, the Canadian Coast Guard was negligent when it was towing the boat.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member, as do all of us here, feels for the families and communities involved. Those of us who come from fishing communities in particular know the effect of something like this on the whole community and the whole area.

I assure the member that all the facts will come out. Three studies have been initiated, supported by the Government of Quebec and by the local area. The truth of whatever happened will come out and all the bits and pieces we hear will be put together to ensure this puzzle is completely solved for the families, as it should.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Dickson, who was following L'Acadien II and the icebreaker, said that he noticed that some of the Canadian Coast Guard's actions were unusual. He also tried to contact the crew of the icebreaker when a piece of ice hampered the towing efforts, but no one responded to the call. Mr. Dickson believes that the drowning of four Magdalen Islands residents could have been avoided.

How can anyone argue against a public inquiry? Will the minister call for a real public inquiry?

Mr. Speaker, all of us have heard the statements that have been made. We are going to hear many of those. There are many views that will be expressed. That is why we have put a mechanism in place to ensure that all the information is collected, and proper decisions will be made at that time.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have yet to answer a simple question about the Cadman affair. What was the Prime Minister referring to when he spoke about an offer made to Mr. Cadman pertaining to financial considerations in the event of an election?

James MooreParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics

Mr. Speaker, I believe I have answered this question more than once, but way less than 5,000 times, but I will go ahead anyway.

The only offer made to Mr. Cadman was the one discussed several times in this House, which is also the only offer that Mr. Cadman himself spoke about, that is to rejoin our party, to run as a Conservative candidate and to be re-elected as a Conservative member.

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is right. He has answered it with several different stories. First, there was no offer, then no offer of a loan, then no offer to rejoin caucus, then no offer for a nomination, then no offer for financial assistance, then no offer became a three part offer.

The problem is that tape wherein the Prime Minister talks about replacing financial considerations. Conservatives admit it was his voice, that those are his words. Why will he not simply explain what he had in mind when he talked about financial considerations?

James MooreParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics

Mr. Speaker, people in glass houses are throwing stones in question period. Let us look at what we have.

The Liberals have been changing their story on this. First, the Liberals said that there was a meeting on May 17; they were wrong. The Liberals said that Chuck Cadman was not going to run again; they were wrong. The Liberals said that we offered Chuck Cadman a $1 million life insurance policy; they were wrong. The Liberals asserted that somehow I was personally involved in organizing a meeting; they were wrong.

We have been clear, consistent and honest with the facts. It has been very easy. All we have done is taken the words of Chuck Cadman and amplified them in the House of Commons. Chuck Cadman said that there was no financial offer. He spoke the truth. The Liberals should accept it.